


Give Your Heart A Break/Cheerleader

by kierathefangirl



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: ALL THE ANGST, ALL THE FLUFF, Angst, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Seborga/OC, gerita - Freeform, lots of stuff going down, many OCs - Freeform, spamano - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-20 13:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8250361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kierathefangirl/pseuds/kierathefangirl
Summary: Toni protecting Lovi. Background other ships, but mainly lots of Spamano (Spain/Romano (AKA South Italy)). Full of angst but has fluff to balance it out. Lots of extreme angst but also much fluff (mainly from Spain).





	1. I'll Never Leave You Alone (Spain's POV)

**Author's Note:**

> Extremely angsty, but also very fluffy. Background GerIta, suggested PruCan, Spamano. Overprotective Spain. :) There is cussing but it's South Italy, what do you expect? ^_^
> 
> Give me comments & feedback, please! I'd like to know what other people think. This was a random idea I had, I decided to run with it. No hating on ships or other fans either, please! ^J^
> 
> I'm listening to the songs mentioned in the title. When it's Spain's point of view (POV), "Give Your Heart A Break", and when it's Romano's POV, "Heart Attack" (both by Demi Lovato). I'd suggest listening. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni (Spain) reminds Lovi he said he'd never leave him alone and asks if he's okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vaguely dark. References to (extreme) violence (but it's not actually depicted much here, mostly focused on Toni's reaction).
> 
> Listening to "Give Your Heart A Break" by Demi Lovato. I'd suggest listening, it amplifies the story. :)  
> POV-based (first person), that's the way I usually write so it's very easy to do. Also makes it more immersive. ^_^
> 
> Feedback is more than welcome!

“Lovi!” I call, trotting up the sidewalk to spin around in front of him.

Lovi stops, eyes on the ground. He’s silent, which is abnormal, and he doesn’t even glance at me. It’s almost as if he’s scared.

“Lovi?”

Lovi shifts uneasily, clearing his throat. “What?”

I reach out and put a light hand on his arm, asking softly, “Remember when you first moved here? How I said I wouldn’t ever leave you alone?”

Lovi nods mutely, still abnormally quiet.

A grin splits across my face. “I was totally serious about that. What’s wrong?”

Lovi wipes almost self-consciously at him face before looking up, a blackened eye and scraped-up face prominent against his pale white skin. Tears—be they tears of pain or something else—fill his eyes, threatening to overflow any minute.

My breath catches in my throat, and I pull him to me, wrapping my arms tightly around him and refusing to let go. After a few minutes’ silence, he wraps his arms hesitantly around me in return.

“It’s just Hayden,” he mutters in weak protest, coughing slightly. “I’m fine.”

“Lovi,” I disagree, pulling away enough that our eyes meet, “You’re hurt. ‘ _It’s just_ ’ nothing. Don’t give me that crap. How bad is it?”

Lovi _hmph_ s and looks away. “I can walk. It’s not that bad.”

“Lovi,” I protest, sliding a protective arm around his shoulders, “Just because you can walk doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. _How. Bad. Is. It?_ ”

Lovi squeezes his eyes shut, leaning a little into the touch. “...It hurts to breathe. Hurts to move at all. I _can_ , but it hurts. I can only see out of one eye. The other’s too swollen and angry. My face stings like hell cause it’s covered in cuts from the barbed wire he dragged me over.”

“ _Dragged?_ ” I repeat slowly.

Lovi cringes. “...He punched me...then dragged me...behind a truck for a few hours. I’m...probably lucky I’m not dead with all the stuff I smacked into.”

“You’d be damn lucky if nothing’s broken,” I agree stiffly, head reeling. _Hayden’s going down. He’s not getting near Lovi again. It’s time to bring Sebastian and Feli in on this._

“I’m pretty sure nothing _broke_ ,” Lovi shrugs weakly. “Doesn’t mean that rocks and barbed wire and gravel roads and concrete roads don’t _hurt_. Hurts like hell. But I survived.”

“Survived doesn’t mean shit,” I disagree softly. “He’s not getting away with that.”

“Toni,” Lovi groans, his head falling back against my chest, “Don’t get involved. How many times have I told you not to? _He. Is. Dangerous. He’ll hurt you._ Get it through your thick ass skull, idiota.”

_Whatever you say, it’s not going to convince me otherwise. He took this way too far. I’m not gonna stand by and let that slide._


	2. Deadly Disaster (Romano's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The same kids come after Romano again. Toni and Gil (Spain & Prussia) intervene. Romano's a bit delirious (and by a bit I mean a lot, he laughs while he's bleeding).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the graphic depiction of violence really comes into play. I'm a very senses-engaging oriented writer, so the more vivid the image, the better. Most of the story won't be as dark, but this is where Toni really steps in.
> 
> POV (First person) based. This one is from Romano/South Italy's POV.

I duck a punch, coughing weakly. “Leave him out of this, you bastard!”

“Oh, does someone have _feelings_ for a certain Spaniard?” Logan laughs, kicking me to the ground.

Hayden smirks. “Having fun trying to tell him you like him?”

I kick his shin angrily. He drives a swift and dangerous foot into my stomach, dislodging a mouthful of blood. I groan weakly, struggling to pick myself off the ground.

 _Toni,_ I call silently, _If you’re gonna intervene, do it now. Otherwise I’m dead for sure._

Logan’s foot presses into my leg, and a helpless outcry of pain falls from my lips as the bone cracks and snaps in two under the pressure. Logan doesn’t stop pushing for a few minutes _after_ it broke, lifting his foot only to kick me again.

Tears of pain leak from my eyes, blood dripping warm and wet from my lips. I gasp for air, a weak and maniacal laugh falling from my lips as I push myself back to my feet. I stand with most of my weight on my right leg, leaving the broken one hardly touching the ground. The idea that they might rape and beat up Toni, Sebastian, or Feli, or maybe all three, drives me. _Not my family and friends, you bitch._

Hayden and Logan look taken aback, their eyes widening as I balance precariously on one foot.

I raise my fists up to shield myself, eyes narrowed. “You say you’re gonna come after my only friend and my brothers? Get through me first, bitch.”

I spit on the ground at their feet, leaving a splatter of mingled blood and saliva. They recover quickly from the shock, kicking at me again.

I duck and hop to the side, avoiding both cleanly. I close my eyes, focusing all my energy the way my mom taught me all those years ago before leaping into the air and driving a foot into Hayden’s dominant hand, switching mid-air so I land on my uninjured foot. I manage it, but my leg still hits the ground a little hard and a growl of pain breathes through my lips as I straighten and lift my broken leg back off the ground.

Hayden’s jaw drops as he stares at his limp hand. He struggles to form a fist and barely manages it, the shock holding off the pain—but only temporarily. He swings and I let it connect, ignoring the blood that overflows out of my mouth and feeling the crunch as his hand truly breaks.

He cries out, shocked and pained. I raise an eyebrow in a semi-delirious amusement. “Did you know you can punch so hard you break your own hand? _I_ didn’t break anything. It may hurt but you broke it. That’s not on me.”

Logan snarls, kicking out and driving a foot into my stomach again. Hot blood pours from my mouth, but I only laugh. I’m still standing. I only have to hold out until Toni gets here.

I finally spot Toni and Gil wandering along and talking up the sidewalk, and I spit out a mouthful of blood to call as loud as I can, “ _Toni!_ ”

Toni turns, his jaw dropping as he comes running. Gil follows uncertainly, letting Toni take the lead.

Logan’s foot connects with my broken leg and I stagger, a cry of pain escaping from blood-red lips. Hayden takes advantage of my unstable balance to knock me to the ground, driving a foot deep into my stomach until blood soaks the pavement beneath my stomach and my mouth.

Black fuzzies dance across my vision, but Toni and Gil are here. I’m saved.


	3. "Get Through Me First, Bitch" (Toni's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Overlap with the last chapter, but from Spain's POV. Runs past the end as well. Lots of fluff, lots of it, but sort of dark reason for the fluff. It's all okay in the end, though. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cussing, but it's Romano and he's delirious af so...kinda expected it. :/ If the title doesn't give it away, Roma's kinda angry and delirious and cusses a bit. But it ends in fluff. :)
> 
> Feedback is always welcome, let me know what you think!

“You say you’re gonna come after my only friend and my brothers? Get through me first, bitch.”

I blink, my eyes searching for the too-familiar voice. But I don’t see Lovi, only the road around, so I pass it off as my brain playing tricks on me.

I keep wandering up the sidewalk blankly, chatting away with Gil. But then I hear his voice again, “Did you know you can punch so hard you break your own hand? _I_ didn’t break anything. It may hurt but you broke it. That’s not on me.”

A delirious, maniacal laugh follows and sends chills down my spine.

There’s a loud splat before Lovi’s voice calls, “ _Toni!_ ”

I turn, finally spotting him. Blood flows from his mouth, a broken leg hanging limply at his side. His shirt and jeans are soaked with blood, his shirt sticking to his chest with the hot liquid. A dark blue shoe connects with his ragdoll-limp leg and he staggers sideways, crying out in pain. The other kid near him kicks him and he falls, a foot diving deep into his stomach to draw blood from his stomach and force yet more out his mouth.

I’m barely aware that I’m running until I crash into one of the kids, knocking him cleanly to the ground. Gil leaps onto the other, winding rope around his wrists and feet.

I pull the cuffs Dad gave me from my belt, tackling the kid and snicking the cuffs easily onto his wrists. I then pull out a line of rough hemp rope, tying his kicking feet together before stumbling to my feet, gasping for breath.

Lovi rolls over and pushes to his feet, staggering a little before gaining balance on his good foot, blood dripping steadily off his lips. His eyes are glazed and I can tell he’s on the verge of passing out, so I shift over and catch him.

Lovi leans heavily on me, coughing weakly. “Ow.”

“Gil,” I say nervously, “Call your dad. Like, now.”

 _Lovi never admits to pain. If he’s saying ‘ow’ then it’s bad. It’s really bad._ Gil pulls his phone out, pushing himself to his feet and pressing the phone to his ear. “Hallo? ...Ja, it’s me, Dad, we need you. Lovi’s bleeding and I’m, like, ninety-nine percent sure his leg’s broken and there’s blood everywhere and—yes, I know, I know. Um, up by the school. Ja. There’s a little alleyway near the school. Yeah, there’s blood everywhere, you can’t miss it. Definitely.”

“It broke,” Lovi says weakly. “I felt it snap. Hurts like hell too. I can barely think. There’s also black fuzzies everywhere and it’s kinda funny.”

“Shit,” I mutter, pulling Lovi closer and pulling as much of his weight onto me as I can. “Gil, did you catch that?”

Gil nods. “Lovi just said it broke, he felt it snap. And it hurts. He can’t think and there’s black spots in his vision and he’s kinda delirious and mein Gott, Dad, just get here as fast as you can.”

“Ja. Okay. Ja, of course. Thanks, love you. Ja, bye.”

He pockets his phone. “Call _your_ dad. We need to get those assholes out of here.”

“He said he was gonna beat up and rape Feli, Sebastian and you,” Lovi tells me, shifting his weight a little and falling a little before catching himself and sliding an arm around me. “I said no way I’d let that happen. I put up a pretty good fight, too. You said you were gonna stop him, I knew you’d show up at some point. No way he’s gonna hurt my family and my only friend, hell no.”

The tiniest smile twitches my lips despite the stress of the situation. Lovi called me his friend. He also said he was protecting me and waiting for me. That’s...more than I can ask for. “Yeah, you put up a good fight. Just don’t scare me like that again, you idiota. One of these times you’ll push yourself too far.”

Lovi wheezes a laugh, coughing up more blood. “Ha. Ha, ha. Nah. I’ve had worse. I’m fine. I mean, sure, it fucking hurts and I’m pretty sure I’m dying but I’m okay. It’s not like I haven’t tried killing myself before. It’s a downside of being suicidal and manic-depressive and socially anxious and shit like that. At least if I die I’ll be in the news for protecting my family and friends to the end.”

“Lovi, Lovi, please don’t talk like that,” I protest weakly, feeling the tears stinging my eyes. “You’re not gonna die. Please, I can’t lose you. Not now. Not here, not now.”

“I’m fighting it,” he reassures me weakly, his weight sinking bit by bit more into me. “But I don’t have much fight left in me. What’s the point? It’s not like people won’t move on if I _do_ die.”

“Lovi,” I cry weakly, wrapping both arms around him lightly and holding him to me. “Lovi, please. God damn it you oblivious twat, I love you. I’m in love with you. I can’t lose you, I can’t. Even if your family moved on I never would. I love you, I love you.”

Lovi chokes a delirious laugh, coughing, “If my family didn’t already hate me for not liking girls I wouldn’t say this, but fuck I love you. If I’m going to Hell anyway I might as well enjoy the ride. And what they threatened to do to my brothers and you, that’s what they’ve done basically every day to me. You were just lucky enough to catch them at it this time. None of the therapists made a difference—a few even made it worse, telling me it’s all in my head and bullshit like that—and they never will. Especially not the ones trying to convince me not to like guys. _Epic_ fail on that one. Hell, I’m in love with the kindest, sweetest, most fucking loving and beautiful and amazing guy I know and I’m too shy and shit to say anything. What’s it matter if I’m already dying?”

Tears of mingled fear and joy stream down my face, and I tighten my grip. _I love you. ...I’m_ _in love with the kindest, sweetest, most fucking loving and beautiful and amazing guy I know and I’m too shy and shit to say anything._ He loves me too. My god. I can’t lose him, please, not now, I’ll do anything, I can’t lose him. I’ll go to church every damn Sunday even though I hate it just so he lives. Don’t take him from me, I’m begging you.

The thought turns into a prayer, a chant. _Not Lovi. Not Lovi. Please, not him._

Gil sighs and pulls my phone from my pocket. “Fine, _I’ll_ call your dad.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lovi wakes up hours later. Toni is, of course, right there. They talk (a lot). They make vague plans (that will soon come into being).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark backstories. But ALL THE FLUFF, SO MUCH FLUFF to compensate. :)
> 
> Lovi's POV. Listening to "Cheerleader" by Omi from here on out.

I wake up slowly to find myself in a bright white hospital room, many IV tubes and shit attached to me and monitors. Toni lays across my chest, fast asleep.

I allow myself the smallest smile, rubbing my eyes. _Well, I said it. Even if I was delirious as fuck. He knows. It’s not like I can take it back now. No more secrets. I don’t want him to find out something that momentous like that again._

I shift slightly. My broken leg’s thick and heavy now, wrapped neatly in a cast. But everything else seems to have been healed. _How long was I out? Shit, if Feli and Sebastian found out about Hayden and Logan....oh no. Fuck. Well, at least I know Toni’s okay. But still._

I reach out and lay a light hand over Toni, rubbing my eyes again with my other hand. “...Toni?”

Toni stirs a little, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. I let my hand fall back to my side, eyes wide and innocent on him. It takes a moment for him to wake up and register that I’m awake, and when he does he looks inbetween surprised, relieved, and delighted. “Lovi!”

I hesitate before pushing myself up so I’m sitting at least, pushing my hair nervously out of my eyes. It takes me a while to register what I’m feeling now. _Vulnerable. He knows everything._

I look at him shyly, avoiding eye contact. “...Uh, hi.”

“Hi,” Toni says softly, shifting uneasily.

“...How long was I out? Days? Hours?”

“Now I have to calculate,” he complains lightly, glancing at his watch. “...Four days, three hours.”

I groan softly, running my fingers through my hair. “Shit.”

“Yeah, your family’s totally freaked out,” he agrees lightly. “Sebastian was crying which made Feli cry more, your mom was crying, your dad was cursing—I guess—in Italian. I think they're sleeping now, we kinda crashed. I haven’t slept in days. ...Don’t _ever_ scare me like that again. I was totally serious.”

“I know,” I agree softly. “Wasn’t planning on it. ...I may have been delirious as fuck but I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. Not that I want my family knowing most of that.”

Toni laughs quietly. “I didn’t tell them anything. Which pissed them off, mind you. But I didn’t really feel comfortable telling _your_ family _your_ secrets. Unless I absolutely had to. I meant it when I said I love you.”

“I know,” I allow, rubbing my eyes again. “...I love you, too, idiota.”

The shyest smile turns his lips up. “...Are we a thing now?”

I consider it seriously, knowing it would piss my family off but it would also make me really happy. _...Why should I care what those abusive assholes think? Feli and Seb and Mom and Dad wouldn’t care. They’d be happy I’m happy. So shouldn’t I? ...I’ll murder anyone in my family who makes fun of us. But I guess that is kinda what I’ve always wanted._

I let the smallest smile turn my lips up, leaving my eyes down on my hands in my lap as I answer shyly, “If you wanna be, then yeah, I guess we are.”

Toni grins, rising from his chair to crawl up next to me on the bed, slipping an arm around me. “Obviously I do or I wouldn’t be asking.”

I lean subconsciously into the touch, shifting a little closer. “I might as well be under Veritaserum, or insane, but ask me anything. I won’t lie. So long as you don’t tell my family most of it.”

Toni grins shyly. “Um, okay. Why don’t you talk about your family—or yourself—very much?”

I shift uneasily. “...I don’t see the point, it seems self-centered. And other than my direct family—my brothers and parents—I might as well have been disowned. Cause I’m not into girls and they’re hardcore Catholics. ...So many people know Feli I don’t see the point in talking about him. He’s more popular than me. Sebastian...I don’t know. I don’t really have friends to talk about him to. He’s a lawyer and he’s engaged to some woman I’ve never met and that’s about all I know about him. We don’t talk much. I figured it would be rude to ask.”

He tilts his head. “Why’d you leave Italy?”

“It’s...a long story,” I parry the question honestly.

“I’ve got all day,” he shrugs. “I’ll tell you why I left Spain if it makes you feel better.”

I shift uneasily. “What time is it?”

He glances at his watch. “Eight A.M. Saturday morning. Why?”

I rub my eyes, sighing. “Fine. But I’m not going into detail. It gets dark. To the point that not even my family knows everything.”

He goes unnaturally still, as if even breathing wrong could scare me away.

I take a deep breath, glancing at the door warily. “...It started long before my family knew anything. The first time I called a guy cute. I got punched—by a cousin, no less—and ran home crying. I was four. My parents patched me up and told me it was okay. They didn’t know home wasn’t a safe place. They still don’t know when exactly it started, just the last time they knew of because they caught them. That was when we left. Sebastian hugged me—he’s two years older than me—and told me the bullies wouldn’t come near me again. Feli was too young to comprehend what was really happening—thank god for that, he’s really smart and he would’ve figured it out if he was even two years older than he was then—and I didn’t say anything. I took it on as a test of wills. I fought back. Our parents patched us up. Over the course of several years, they got progressively more violent. It got to the point I ended up in the hospital for a week, unconscious. My family definitely noticed that, but they took my cousins’ story that I’d fallen off a building and hit my head. They had dropped me off a building into a bunch of thorn bushes. I was seven. When I woke up, I didn’t correct them. By then I was too scared of my cousins to argue. When I was nine, they put me in the hospital again. I didn’t say anything. When I was ten, one of my cousins—a girl, which made it even worse—beat me up and raped me. No, I didn’t tell. I was too scared. But this time was different, it was at the park. She beat me up after, so my parents had no idea and I was too scared to say anything. But both of our parents—mine and hers—walked in. Her parents reprimanded her and took her across the park. Mine took me to the hospital. We left that night, once I was able to walk again. We took a flight in the middle of the night. No note, nadda. Just all five of us disappearing. For all my family knows, I’m dead. They call every year to wish Sebastian and Feli a happy birthday. Luckily they don’t have my number. But they do have the house number, and one of my cousins—one of the guys who beat me up—calls every year to sarcastically wish me a happy birthday and tell me I’m worthless before laughing and hanging up. The distance meant I was no longer a physical target. Doesn’t mean they ever really left me alone. And I’m still too scared to say anything to my parents or even my brothers. They might not believe me. I could be just crying wolf for all they know. Not that I’d ever do that.”

Toni stays strangely still, holding his breath. I shake my head, finishing softly, “They would only hate me more if they really knew. For sure, I mean. If my cousins ever found out I’m in love with a guy, they’d murder me without a second thought. No other questions asked. I’m too scared to face them alone and I’m too scared they’d hurt anyone I brought along. Even if I did try to make things right with them.”

Toni wraps both arms around me, holding me close. “If you want to make things right, I’m not the slightest bit scared of them. I’m more scared for _you_ than I am of _them_.”

I shiver a little. “That might make things worse. They’re not blind, they’d see the way I look at you.”

“So?” A mischievous smile works its way onto his lips, a twinkle gleaming in his eye. “That’s kinda the point. Prove to them that it’s not a bad thing and they should stop judging you for it. Love is love, it’s pure and true no matter what gender someone is. You shouldn’t have to be afraid of them.”

I shift uneasily, glancing at him. “I don’t know. They can be really scary.”

“They’re also your family, like it or not,” Toni shrugs. “If you want them to stop hating you, you’ve gotta do something. And I don’t mean denying who or what you like just so they’re happy.”

After a long pause, Toni says quietly, “My aunt and uncle were deadbeat drunks. They beat me up anytime I was around. ...Like you, I was too scared to say anything. Besides, it’s not like I understood it was wrong. It started when I was three. We left when I was nine because my dad found out—well, more like he walked in when they were hitting me and said ‘leave him alone’ and walked out with me. He missed the worst of it, though. Both of them raped me and beat me up for years. He still doesn’t know. The worst part is they wouldn’t let my mom become a legal citizen. They wanted more money. She _looks_ Spanish. Dad could pass off as British or some other European. It’s total crap, but they let him through with me. They let both of us legalize. My mom’s still trapped there, I haven’t seen her in...eight years? I hardly remember what she looks like.”

It takes me a moment to convince myself to move—this is actually really comfortable with him holding me like this—but I shift until I can hug him, using the angle to shield us from the door. After a moment’s hesitation I lightly press my lips to his, which I can tell by his delayed response catches him off guard. After both of us have been raped and abused, it takes a hell of a lot of trust from both of us not to pull away. But for a few minutes, neither of us move much.

I pull back and curl up against his chest, winding my arms around him. “We’re gonna get your mom back. _And_ fix things with my family, the right way. Kill two birds with one stone. My family’s pretty rich, I just have to figure out how to convince them to give us some. I can honestly say we’re definitely not rich and that might tug a few heartstrings, but that might not be enough.”

He wraps his arms around me, a breathless laugh rolling off his tongue. “Hang on, don’t act like that didn’t just happen. You _kissed_ me.”

“I didn’t act like it didn’t happen,” I protest.

Toni grins. “Yeah, you did, you immediately said something after.”

I tighten my grip. “That takes a hell of a lot of trust, I’ll say that. Doesn’t mean you have to say something about it. I had something to say, doesn’t mean I was brushing it off.”

He tightens his grip, an amused smile twitching his lips. “So you’re rich?”

“Sort of,” I shrug. “If I can convince them to actually give us access to their money.”

“Awesome,” Toni chuckles, planting a light kiss on the top of my head. “I love you.”

I shut my eyes, suppressing the urge to say he already knows I do. “...I love you, too.”

“Hey, you didn’t call me an idiot,” he giggles.

I raise an eyebrow. “Should I? It’s been a while since I’ve insulted you and meant it. Even a fool could tell you genuinely care. I don’t _have_ to do that anymore. I just do. It’s a habit. Whether I mean it or not.”

A grin splits across his face. “No, carry on. I just think it’s cute.”

I flip him off. His grin turns into an almost Francis-esque smile. “Where, when, and how hard?”

I burst out laughing in spite of myself, dropping my head in my hands. “Jerk.”

“Your jerk,” he chuckles.

 I glance at Toni, the faintest smile twitching at my lips. “I suppose.”

He grins again. “...Want me to wake anyone up?”

I shrug. “They can wake up on their own. May not seem like it but I’m a people-pleaser. Well, once I actually want a person to like me. And I do a pretty good job of it.”

“What about Gil? You said you only have one friend. He said he felt a bit left out.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I only have one friend. We’re not exactly friends. Technically we’re actually boyfriends now but that’s a whole other story.”

Toni blushes scarlet and starts laughing this adorable, nervous laugh. For once, his confidence is replaced with an almost childlike embarrassment. “Uh, heh heh, I guess we are, yeah.”

“You’re kinda cute like that,” I tell him with a shy smile.

His blush deepens until even his ears glow pink and he hides his face in his hands.

A very exhausted-looking Doctor Beilshmidt slips in, his eyes widening as they fall on the strangest scene. “I...I...but...you’re awake,” he stammers.

I shoot him a shy smile. “Have been for a while now. But yeah, thanks for noticing. Other than a rather annoying weight on my leg, I’m fine.”

He shakes himself a little. “Antonio?”

Toni chokes a little and looks up. “Uh, what?”

He’s still bright red, an embarrassed smile quirking his lips. Doctor Beilshmidt raises an eyebrow before saying, “What do you think?”

“He seems fine,” Toni shrugs. “...Well, he’s actually telling me things rather than avoiding any question that’s even the slightest bit personal, but healthwise he’s fine. Other than the complaint of the cast on his leg being an awkward weight. He could probably walk with crutches.”

Doctor Beilshmidt leaves the room grumbling. Toni’s head falls in his hands again, the embarrassed laugh muffled in his hands again. “Madre de Dios,” he giggles childishly, “I never thought I’d actually be able to say I have a boyfriend.” ( _Mother of God_ )

I ruffle his hair, laughing a little. “You’re one to talk. _I’m Catholic._ ”

“I’m Christian,” he shrugs. “Same deal. No homo.”

“ _All of the homo,_ ” I grin, giggling when he goes bright red again. “You’re actually responding to that. Don’t tell me the most macho Spaniard ever is _embarrassed_?”

He swats playfully at me, rubbing self-consciously at his face as if to wipe away the evidence. “I’m, like, the opposite of macho. I’m the most emotional little shit that ever lived.”

“Eh, more like if you’re not happy it’s adorable and kinda weird cause you always are,” I disagree.

Toni grins shyly, choking back a laugh. “I guess so.”


End file.
